Science and Religion - Part 1

Part 1

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Topics: Age of the Universe, Torah & Science

By Shlomo Yaffe

Rabbi Shlomo Yaffe, a frequent contributor of articles and media to chabad.org, is Permanent Scholar-in-Residence to Chabad at Harvard, and Dean of the Institute of American and Talmudic Law in New York, NY. Rabbi Yaffe has lectured and led seminars throughout North America, as well as in Europe and South Africa.

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November 26, 2011

What about the solid firmament, in Genesis?

I recently saw a youtube video that says that the word Rakia or firmament means it must a solid physical thing based on the understanding of the word and how its used throughout Torah.

Yet we see through science that thee is no physical barrier separating any waters above from other water, below.

Ramban says it means it a spiritual separation but that seems to be in conflict with the understanding of the meaning of the word in every other place it's used with that exact spelling and context.

Ramban says that to inquire into it is forbidden, and the video criticizes the idea is shutting your mind down to blindly believe what science tells you is wrong.

This seems to me, to be a fundamental contradiction between Torah and science, in this case.

If I am wrong please someone show me how in precise detail with a full explanation.

I would love to know since this a big (really big) test of emmunah, for me.

Hard to keep believing.
Brooklyn, New York